A new study has challenged the notion that drinking in moderate quantities was better than avoiding alcohol completely. For years, many observational studies have pointed out that moderate drinkers live longer and face fewer health issues than non-drinkers but the new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, dispels all such misconceptions. 

The researchers peered into 107 published studies on people’s drinking habits and how long they had lived. The scientists noted that most of the studies carried biases that affected their results. 

For example, in most cases, the drinkers were compared with people who abstained or consumed very little alcohol without factoring that some had cut down or quit alcohol in the first place due to illness. 

The research and its findings effectively suggest that, after adjusting the key study characteristics, the perceived health benefits of light drinking for longevity diminish.

“Studies with lifetime selection biases may create misleading positive health associations. These biases pervade the field of alcohol epidemiology and can confuse communications about health risks,” the new study said.  

The study supports the growing movement focusing on nonalcoholic lifestyles and highlights the need for stricter standards in studies examining the health effects of alcohol consumption, along with the subsequent public health messaging.

Dr Tim Stockwell, first author on the study stated it was the lobbying by the alcohol companies that had pushed such studies which helped them further their propaganda. 

“It’s been a propaganda coup for the alcohol industry to propose that moderate use of their product lengthens people’s lives,” said Dr Stockwell, who is also a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria. 

“The idea has impacted national drinking guidelines, estimates of alcohol’s burden of disease worldwide and has been an impediment to effective policymaking on alcohol and public health,” he added. 

A previous study published in 2018 corroborated the claims made by Dr Stockwell and his team. The study found that alcohol led to 2.8 million deaths in 2016 and was the leading risk factor for premature death and disability in 15- to 49-year-olds.

(With inputs from agencies)